Crossfire
by Blondie10
Summary: Trowa is reunited with Midii as political heat rises, but will they be able to pick up where they left off in clear and present danger?
1. Chapter One: Reunions

CROSSFIRE  
  
So methodical. So rhythmic. It was amazing, watching her work. It was almost as if he was watching himself do it. Every so often she stopped, sighed, looked to him, but always continued. He could hear the keys snapping beneath her fingertips. The girl looked up at her superior, then continued. She was probably deep into personnel files, reading resumes and war stories. He knew she would get nothing. But still, it brought a smile to his face seeing the new kind of soldier the Alliance was packaging these days. These days. It sounded so alien to him, the idea of peace. He knew the only thing keeping the false peace if mind was the smile on the Foreign Ministers' smiles. Keeping everyone happy meant keeping all sense of reality from everyone. The Alliance, and pretty much every other military organization, was milling out as many soldiers as possible. And it would only continue. He came back to the cold, sterile hallway. She knew he was out there; he hoped she didn't realize he had absentmindedly been staring at her for quite a while. He checked his gun and walked into the simple office. She sat before the computer screen, her head in her hands. She was lightly banging her head against the glowing screen. "Stuck?" he asked. She turned around, shocked. Immediately the colonel stood and saluted. "At ease, Colonel Une." 'Sir," she nodded. Apparently they were really training the armed forces today. She grabbed her jacket and tucked the mass of blonde hair into her hat, which promptly fell off her head. Her cheeks flushed. "Have you gotten to the patch?" he asked. "Patch?" she inquired, knitting her brow. "You don't think we would let you go into ESUN records without clearance, do you?" "Colonel Marquees, I accessed everything. Bank records, birth certificates, everything." "Midii, I have a job for you," Zechs said, completely stunned. No one was this good.  
  
~*~  
  
"And here's your files, the com, and-" "Colonel, what's this?" "Well, Midii, it's a dress," Zechs answered, nodding his head. "I can see that." "Tomorrow there's a big political event. It's your cover." "All right then," Midii said, taking the equipment and trying to climb out of the Benz. She held the dress over her head as not to damage the layers of silk. "You have no idea how much you are going to help us," he assured. "Believe me, I do," she said, thinking of Trowa.  
  
~*~  
  
The five of them, together again. It was a rarity to see them in the same room; usually they were on different continents. Now some mission of 'the greatest urgency' reunited them. Working with an Alliance member, they would 'unlock secrets buried deep in the folds of diplomacy'. Apparently they had another freelance writer working on the memos again. As they walked down the labyrinth of the military barracks, the former Gundam pilots caught up. It had been four years. So much had changed for them, emotionally. And yet, in the comfort of old acquaintances, the environment was suffocating. Not knowing what would happen- jeopardizing what many of them had at stake- was worse than anything else. This mission was, in the words of Duo, a Monkey. They had brought back the Gundams.  
  
Trowa Barton strode down the hallway faster than the others- he wasn't up for hearing all about Duo's marriage. War, for him, was the norm. It was his calendar. Now, in the heat of political uprisings, he actually had a reason to hang around. Catherine was married, raising a daughter. Now he had a family to protect. But still, he felt at home on the battlefield. Zechs Marquees was back in the game, which meant this was serious. His partner, another New Alliance colonel, was apparently deeply involved with the mission. It only made him more interested in the rookie. Trowa rounded the corner and froze. When Duo caught up with him, he catcalled.  
  
After a man whistled, Midii turned around. She smiled and breezed past Trowa. "Maxwell, Yuy, Winner, Chang, Barton?" she asked. They all acknowledged. "This way." She took them to a gargantuan mechanical garage, where the gundams, along with Tallgeese I and Epyon II. "Well, men, here they are. Ghosts of the past, no?"  
  
"Who are you?" Heero asked. The blonde turned around, showing off her curves in the tight-fitting leather uniform. Alliance soldiers didn't look this good. "Colonel Midii Une, of the New Earth Alliance. May we continue?" "Go right ahead," he said with a slight smile. She walked over to the 04. Pulling out a stack of files, she distributed manila envelopes to all of them. "The mission is simple. Tomorrow night, under cover of the President's inaugural address, we use these, she said, pointing vaguely to the mobile suits. ".To take out the palace." Once she was done she moved on, leading them into a smaller room. They all took chairs as Zechs Marquees greeted them. Heero studied the floor intently. "Been a long time," Zechs remarked. Silence ensued before Duo broke the silence.  
  
"Why did you bring us back into the picture? Anybody could do this with any other suit." "We need the Gundams." "Why?" Duo whined. He had a family to attend to. "Maxwell, if we used Alliance suits they would shut it down. Using the Gundams in this- very specific- mission will make a statement." "Still." "Shut up Duo," Trowa said. At the sound of his voice Midii, who had been standing in the corner brooding, walked up to Zechs. Trowa now joined Heero in staring at the tile work. Duo had another question. "Are you going to do this, Zechs?" "No. Miss- Colonel Une will stand in my stead. She'll be right there with you throughout it all." "Standing on the sidelines," Wufei mumbled. Midii caught it. "Actually, I'll be piloting Epyon," the spy said with startling clearness. Wufei focused on the wall before him.  
  
Heero almost laughed. This soldier- this girl, he wouldn't trust her with a pistol. Instead he would be piloting a Gundam beside her. He looked up at her. She stared him down, gray eyes meeting infamous Prussian blue. She then averted her gaze to a somber-faced Zechs. Finding him ever silent, she turned her attention to the five before her. "Well, gentlemen, I'll see you tomorrow morning."  
"Wake up, gentlemen," Midii's voice sounded over the intercom. Heero got up and methodically poured out the pitcher of ice water on to Duo, who was up like a shot. The rest of the pilots were awake in various stages of consciousness. Trowa was gone.  
  
He raced down the hallway, still pulling on a shirt. Finally catching up to her, Trowa grabbed her shoulder. Midii promptly pulled a gun on him. He coughed as the barrel of an ornate silver General's pistol was pointed between his eyes. At a familiar face, she stowed one of her four pistols. Midii hadn't changed at all. "Nanashi- Mr. Barton," she breathed. "Midii." "We have about fifteen minutes. Do you want to get breakfast- or- something?" "Yeah, great. That would be.really good," Trowa stumbled. Neither one of them could vocalize. This was going to be a really long week. 


	2. Chapter Two: the Rising

CROSSFIRE  
  
"I am way too old for this," Duo panted. "You are twenty years old, Duo. Shut up," Heero said. He was actually getting antsy. Heero, in this artificial battleground, was bored. He knew the Zero's handling so well he could do it in his sleep. He looked over to Midii. In the Epyon, he could see her talents were well rounded as ever. He had heard about her- the little girl that had slain so many. Some deserved it, few didn't. He was a killer, just like her, but there was something about her he would never be able to touch. He had Une on the four-by-five screen, looking beyond the imaginary targets. Just then Marquees took all the suits. Time for a lecture, no doubt. "Midii!" he yelled from the ground. She was just shutting the suit down, and opened the hatch to see Zechs.  
  
"Sir?" she queried. She stepped forward, hanging halfway out of the Gundam. "Check out the DeathScythe. Something's wrong with the handling." The girl jumped to the ground like a cat and loaded the 02. Duo tried to escape the confined space. "You're fine," she whispered. He leaned back. "Maxwell, don't you dare close that door on my ass," she hissed as she scanned the lines upon lines of coding. Finding the glitch, she artfully spun out of the suit to face Zechs, keeping her toehold on the edge of the hatch. "Found it. There's nothing wrong with the suit- this guy's just shaking like a leaf." "What? I had a lot of coffee," Duo whined. He was beet red. Midii got to the floor and exited. Zechs stood for a moment, then turned her way. "You'll find suits in your rooms," he yelled over his shoulder. Heero had almost forgotten this was a formal affair.  
  
~*~  
  
He opened the door. It was that damn girl- Midii Une. "Do you have a .38?" she asked. Wufei shook his head. "What about a .35?" "No." This was getting really old. "DO YOU HAVE A FIREARM?" she yelled. He slammed the door.  
  
She walked to the door across the hall, picking up the insanely long hem of her dress. It felt way too bare. Knocking on the door, Quatre Winner answered, already in a penguin suit. "Do you have a .38?" she asked sweetly. He nodded, then waved her in. "You had a pretty decent pistol yesterday," Quatre pointed out. "I can't use it tonight," she said, hoping he would live up to his reputation as a gentleman and just give her the damn piece. He searched around in the chest of drawers until he pulled out a simple gun. She took it and headed for the door. "Was it Treize's?" he asked. She froze. He must have known about it. She left without answering.  
  
~*~ 


End file.
